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| Maggie, Maggie, Maggie – out, out, out? The battle for Thatcher’s EU legacy | Maggie, Maggie, Maggie – out, out, out? The battle for Thatcher’s EU legacy |
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| Inscribed with the words “Margaret Thatcher 1925-2013”, a simple headstone in front of a wing of London’s Royal Hospital that also bears her name marks the last resting place of Britain’s only female prime minister. | Inscribed with the words “Margaret Thatcher 1925-2013”, a simple headstone in front of a wing of London’s Royal Hospital that also bears her name marks the last resting place of Britain’s only female prime minister. |
| It’s a quiet spot. Occasionally, a red-coated Chelsea pensioner potters by, or a US Republican presidential candidate makes a pilgrimage to the place where her ashes are scattered. Largely absent, too, are the handmade tributes found at memorials to rock stars and poets, save for a white painted stone on which has been written in black felt-tip pen: “The ‘IRON LADY’ WITH A BIG SOFT HEART. RIP.” | It’s a quiet spot. Occasionally, a red-coated Chelsea pensioner potters by, or a US Republican presidential candidate makes a pilgrimage to the place where her ashes are scattered. Largely absent, too, are the handmade tributes found at memorials to rock stars and poets, save for a white painted stone on which has been written in black felt-tip pen: “The ‘IRON LADY’ WITH A BIG SOFT HEART. RIP.” |
| Related: Margaret Thatcher’s supposed view on the EU will fire up the right | Matthew d’Ancona | |
| In a way, the grave reflects the low-key manner in which Thatcher is memorialised in Britain – the only well-known statue of her, perhaps tellingly, lies safely inside parliament – even as barely a week in politics passes without her being evoked in the course of contemporary political battles. The latest example is the spat – regarded as unseemly by many Tories – that was ignited after Charles Powell, one of her closest former advisers, claimed she would have voted to stay in the EU. It prompted dismissals from other Thatcher-era confidantes such as Norman Tebbit, and a furious retaliatory response on the front page of the Daily Mail with the headline: “NO! NO! NO!” She is never far from the heart of Conservative politics: when prominent party activist Tim Montgomerie resigned this week, he framed his decision as a response to the betrayal of his heroine. | In a way, the grave reflects the low-key manner in which Thatcher is memorialised in Britain – the only well-known statue of her, perhaps tellingly, lies safely inside parliament – even as barely a week in politics passes without her being evoked in the course of contemporary political battles. The latest example is the spat – regarded as unseemly by many Tories – that was ignited after Charles Powell, one of her closest former advisers, claimed she would have voted to stay in the EU. It prompted dismissals from other Thatcher-era confidantes such as Norman Tebbit, and a furious retaliatory response on the front page of the Daily Mail with the headline: “NO! NO! NO!” She is never far from the heart of Conservative politics: when prominent party activist Tim Montgomerie resigned this week, he framed his decision as a response to the betrayal of his heroine. |
| As the debate about a possible British departure from the EU gathers pace after this week’s events in Brussels, she is expected to be invoked repeatedly in the coming months. And that tug-of-war reveals a peculiar wrinkle to her legacy: for as long as the battle about the meaning of her premiership goes on, another on how she should best be memorialised also continues with vigour. Where her cold-war ally Ronald Reagan is remembered with an elaborate presidential library and museum, plans for a bricks-and-mortar monument to Thatcher have yet to get off the ground. | As the debate about a possible British departure from the EU gathers pace after this week’s events in Brussels, she is expected to be invoked repeatedly in the coming months. And that tug-of-war reveals a peculiar wrinkle to her legacy: for as long as the battle about the meaning of her premiership goes on, another on how she should best be memorialised also continues with vigour. Where her cold-war ally Ronald Reagan is remembered with an elaborate presidential library and museum, plans for a bricks-and-mortar monument to Thatcher have yet to get off the ground. |
| “Her legacy was so divisive and polarising that it is difficult – and we saw this in the arguments over the funeral – to capture her for the country as a whole rather than just for the Conservative party in particular,” says the historian Tim Bale, author of The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron. “There is an extent to which she is one of those prophets who is honoured more abroad than she is at home, possibly because of her legacy in eastern Europe and America.” | “Her legacy was so divisive and polarising that it is difficult – and we saw this in the arguments over the funeral – to capture her for the country as a whole rather than just for the Conservative party in particular,” says the historian Tim Bale, author of The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron. “There is an extent to which she is one of those prophets who is honoured more abroad than she is at home, possibly because of her legacy in eastern Europe and America.” |
| It’s a situation that causes some bafflement among US admirers, who are unable to understand why she is not revered in Britain as much as Reagan is in his homeland. It was the Reagan centre that provided the inspiration in 2009 for what still remains the most significant initiative to physically commemorate Thatcher – a British centre that would house a museum and run courses aimed at spreading the Thatcherite message. Having been refused an honorary degree by her alma mater, Oxford University, the current proposed site is the University of Buckingham, the UK’s only private university operating under a royal charter, where she was a former chancellor. | It’s a situation that causes some bafflement among US admirers, who are unable to understand why she is not revered in Britain as much as Reagan is in his homeland. It was the Reagan centre that provided the inspiration in 2009 for what still remains the most significant initiative to physically commemorate Thatcher – a British centre that would house a museum and run courses aimed at spreading the Thatcherite message. Having been refused an honorary degree by her alma mater, Oxford University, the current proposed site is the University of Buckingham, the UK’s only private university operating under a royal charter, where she was a former chancellor. |
| “Visitors will have an opportunity to be photographed in front of a replica door to 10 Downing Street and to sit around the table in the Cabinet Room,” promises the centre’s website, to which visitors are told, in terms that some may find ominous: “She delivered. Now it’s our turn.” | “Visitors will have an opportunity to be photographed in front of a replica door to 10 Downing Street and to sit around the table in the Cabinet Room,” promises the centre’s website, to which visitors are told, in terms that some may find ominous: “She delivered. Now it’s our turn.” |
| Three years on from its subject’s death, however, the centre is still edging towards its goal. Accounts filed during December by Cherish Freedom – a company that has been involved with the project – listed assets of £50,000 for the year up to January 2015. As of 2014, however, the trust behind the centre enjoys charitable status and has not yet had to publish full accounts. According the Conservative MP Conor Burns, a spokesman for the project, an increase in funds came last year “as a result of a very successful fundraiser” at London’s Guildhall, which was addressed by the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott. With characteristic bombast, he used the opportunity to call on Europe to close its borders to migrants or risk a “catastrophic error”. It remains to be seen whether the speaker at this year’s annual Margaret Thatcher memorial _lecture and gala banquet succeeds in drawing in any more benefactors from outside of the the conservative heartland: the organisers have selected George Osborne. | Three years on from its subject’s death, however, the centre is still edging towards its goal. Accounts filed during December by Cherish Freedom – a company that has been involved with the project – listed assets of £50,000 for the year up to January 2015. As of 2014, however, the trust behind the centre enjoys charitable status and has not yet had to publish full accounts. According the Conservative MP Conor Burns, a spokesman for the project, an increase in funds came last year “as a result of a very successful fundraiser” at London’s Guildhall, which was addressed by the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott. With characteristic bombast, he used the opportunity to call on Europe to close its borders to migrants or risk a “catastrophic error”. It remains to be seen whether the speaker at this year’s annual Margaret Thatcher memorial _lecture and gala banquet succeeds in drawing in any more benefactors from outside of the the conservative heartland: the organisers have selected George Osborne. |
| Abbott’s support was not before time, boosting attempts to realise the centre’s ambitious aims to open at the University of Buckingham by 2019. Its website states that its budget, reviewed in 2015 by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of a feasibility study, sees it needing to raise more than £500,000 to undertake important work in Britain and overseas. Taxpayers in the US, where a rich vein of donors theoretically exists, are invited to support the centre by donating to a foundation registered in Virginia. | Abbott’s support was not before time, boosting attempts to realise the centre’s ambitious aims to open at the University of Buckingham by 2019. Its website states that its budget, reviewed in 2015 by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of a feasibility study, sees it needing to raise more than £500,000 to undertake important work in Britain and overseas. Taxpayers in the US, where a rich vein of donors theoretically exists, are invited to support the centre by donating to a foundation registered in Virginia. |
| The centre now at least has access to some of the former prime minister’s iconic belongings after an auction last year, at which a “generous donor” provided the resource for the centre to buy them on his behalf. “The focus will be, as Mrs Thatcher would have wanted, on a living centre that concentrates on training and debate and exchange programmes, while the exhibition side will be really very much secondary,” says Burns, who became a friend of Thatcher later in her life. No public target dates exist for when construction will begin, a process Burns says is “entirely dependent” on the centre’s ability to raise funds. | The centre now at least has access to some of the former prime minister’s iconic belongings after an auction last year, at which a “generous donor” provided the resource for the centre to buy them on his behalf. “The focus will be, as Mrs Thatcher would have wanted, on a living centre that concentrates on training and debate and exchange programmes, while the exhibition side will be really very much secondary,” says Burns, who became a friend of Thatcher later in her life. No public target dates exist for when construction will begin, a process Burns says is “entirely dependent” on the centre’s ability to raise funds. |
| He adds, though: “It’s very hard to have a public exhibition with no items for the public to look at. Obviously, now that we have access to the items, that will make us able to go and pitch to potential donors on what the exhibition will look like, and tangibly, if they were to support us, what any donations they made to us would allow us to do.” | He adds, though: “It’s very hard to have a public exhibition with no items for the public to look at. Obviously, now that we have access to the items, that will make us able to go and pitch to potential donors on what the exhibition will look like, and tangibly, if they were to support us, what any donations they made to us would allow us to do.” |
| Related: Margaret Thatcher would have voted to stay in EU, claims aide | |
| Another result of the auction – which included Thatcher memorabilia ranging from her wedding dress to her ministerial red box and handbags – was to bring into focus arguments for her as a cultural figure, and sparked a week-long row about claims that “liberal snobbery” had led to the Victoria and Albert museum rejecting a chance to exhibit her clothes. Talks about acquiring the clothes continue, according to the museum, which denied it officially declined such an offer. | Another result of the auction – which included Thatcher memorabilia ranging from her wedding dress to her ministerial red box and handbags – was to bring into focus arguments for her as a cultural figure, and sparked a week-long row about claims that “liberal snobbery” had led to the Victoria and Albert museum rejecting a chance to exhibit her clothes. Talks about acquiring the clothes continue, according to the museum, which denied it officially declined such an offer. |
| The affair also hinted that all was not well in terms of relations between would-be custodians of Thatcher’s legacy and her daughter, Carol, who initiated the sale. Reports in the Telegraph hinted, too, that a dim view had been taken by her twin brother, Mark – a quiet figure now after years of controversies that culminated in his involvement in a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea. | The affair also hinted that all was not well in terms of relations between would-be custodians of Thatcher’s legacy and her daughter, Carol, who initiated the sale. Reports in the Telegraph hinted, too, that a dim view had been taken by her twin brother, Mark – a quiet figure now after years of controversies that culminated in his involvement in a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea. |
| Carol declined to be interviewed for this article, saying that the question of her mother’s legacy was “one for the Conservative party and modern historians rather than for her daughter … Margaret Thatcher’s record stands alone and speaks for itself”. | Carol declined to be interviewed for this article, saying that the question of her mother’s legacy was “one for the Conservative party and modern historians rather than for her daughter … Margaret Thatcher’s record stands alone and speaks for itself”. |
| And yet still others are trying to shape it. Separate from and not to be confused with the centre is the Thatcher Foundation, a US-based enterprise formed in 1991 “to advance the cause of political and economic freedom”. Accounts filed for it in the US suggest that it is a fairly lean operation. For the year 2014, its only significant contributor was the (now dissolved) Margaret Thatcher Foundation UK, which provided $20,000. All of that money was spent on its website ($18,167), and the rest in banking fees, leaving it with a surplus of $4 at the end of that year. | And yet still others are trying to shape it. Separate from and not to be confused with the centre is the Thatcher Foundation, a US-based enterprise formed in 1991 “to advance the cause of political and economic freedom”. Accounts filed for it in the US suggest that it is a fairly lean operation. For the year 2014, its only significant contributor was the (now dissolved) Margaret Thatcher Foundation UK, which provided $20,000. All of that money was spent on its website ($18,167), and the rest in banking fees, leaving it with a surplus of $4 at the end of that year. |
| Funded through “private philanthropy”, it operates as an educational charity rather than a thinktank or lobby group, while its main focus is currently the completion of a project to digitise and publish online more than 1m archived documents related to Thatcher’s life. | Funded through “private philanthropy”, it operates as an educational charity rather than a thinktank or lobby group, while its main focus is currently the completion of a project to digitise and publish online more than 1m archived documents related to Thatcher’s life. |
| For some, this digital project serves as the most significant monument yet to Thatcher, while also illustrating the deep and sustained interest in her as an historical figure. Another measure of wider interest in her is the fact that universities in Asia and the US are willing to pay £900 a pop for a recently published Margaret Thatcher reader, edited by Tim Bale and including 70 chapters on her. | For some, this digital project serves as the most significant monument yet to Thatcher, while also illustrating the deep and sustained interest in her as an historical figure. Another measure of wider interest in her is the fact that universities in Asia and the US are willing to pay £900 a pop for a recently published Margaret Thatcher reader, edited by Tim Bale and including 70 chapters on her. |
| It also corresponds with a trend suggested both by him and the former prime minister’s authorised biographer, Charles Moore: that the passing of time has begun to soften memories of one of Britain’s most divisive leaders. | It also corresponds with a trend suggested both by him and the former prime minister’s authorised biographer, Charles Moore: that the passing of time has begun to soften memories of one of Britain’s most divisive leaders. |
| Notwithstanding Montgomerie’s bombshell, that softening has long been happening in a place where she was once a dividing line – the Tory party itself. Bale now describes it as having been “fully Thatcherised in the sense that few in it would publicly thrash her”. On top of that, while figures such as Cameron once felt compelled to move away from her, he and others now feel more comfortable about deploying her legacy in the pursuit of voters and as an ideological backstop for austerity. | Notwithstanding Montgomerie’s bombshell, that softening has long been happening in a place where she was once a dividing line – the Tory party itself. Bale now describes it as having been “fully Thatcherised in the sense that few in it would publicly thrash her”. On top of that, while figures such as Cameron once felt compelled to move away from her, he and others now feel more comfortable about deploying her legacy in the pursuit of voters and as an ideological backstop for austerity. |
| “They look at opinion polls and they can see that the public, whatever they thought of her at the time, seem to have decided that she was one of the greats,” Bale adds. | “They look at opinion polls and they can see that the public, whatever they thought of her at the time, seem to have decided that she was one of the greats,” Bale adds. |
| “She had all sorts of strengths they think are necessary for any successful prime minister. So as they get further away from the time when she was actually in power, they find it easier to invoke her name.” | “She had all sorts of strengths they think are necessary for any successful prime minister. So as they get further away from the time when she was actually in power, they find it easier to invoke her name.” |
| For Moore, the party’s former leader remains “potentially explosive” inside its ranks, owing to residual feelings about the manner of her departure, but he too argues that there has been a lessening of public and media antipathy towards her, making it easier for the Conservatives to deploy her legacy. | For Moore, the party’s former leader remains “potentially explosive” inside its ranks, owing to residual feelings about the manner of her departure, but he too argues that there has been a lessening of public and media antipathy towards her, making it easier for the Conservatives to deploy her legacy. |
| “I’ve noticed this writing the books, that people now see her much more as she obviously is, as a historical figure. On the whole, her reputation has grown, because in a period when there is a general feeling that the west lacks leadership, it’s very clear that even if you don’t like it, she achieved an enormous amount and knew where she was going on most things. | “I’ve noticed this writing the books, that people now see her much more as she obviously is, as a historical figure. On the whole, her reputation has grown, because in a period when there is a general feeling that the west lacks leadership, it’s very clear that even if you don’t like it, she achieved an enormous amount and knew where she was going on most things. |
| “The more time passes, the less you ask about whether she was right or wrong. I don’t sit around, for example, thinking: ‘Was Alexander the Great right to invade India?’ What I want to know is: ‘Was he important and why does it matter?’” | “The more time passes, the less you ask about whether she was right or wrong. I don’t sit around, for example, thinking: ‘Was Alexander the Great right to invade India?’ What I want to know is: ‘Was he important and why does it matter?’” |
| To illustrate the interest in her beyond Britain, Moore recalls sitting in on last year’s auction at Christie’s: “You had these extraordinary bids coming from Singapore, China, Russia, Poland and so on, and it’s just inconceivable that that would happen with any other British leader except Churchill. All over the world, you had people paying colossal prices for these things.” | To illustrate the interest in her beyond Britain, Moore recalls sitting in on last year’s auction at Christie’s: “You had these extraordinary bids coming from Singapore, China, Russia, Poland and so on, and it’s just inconceivable that that would happen with any other British leader except Churchill. All over the world, you had people paying colossal prices for these things.” |
| Still though, levels of antipathy towards Thatcher remain deep-rooted at home in Britain, surpassed perhaps only by those in Argentina. | Still though, levels of antipathy towards Thatcher remain deep-rooted at home in Britain, surpassed perhaps only by those in Argentina. |
| As one measure, there are the 190,000-plus signatures gathered by no fewer than five anti-Thatcher petitions of one sort or another currently live on the campaign site 38 Degrees. They include 41,000 for one that calls for the shelving of “government plans” to build a museum to remember her. That the museum will apparently draw its funding entirely from private donors appears to be of little deterrence. A similar petition last year gathered more than 80,000 – the bulk of which appeared to have been inspired by a Twitter hashtag – before it was closed. | As one measure, there are the 190,000-plus signatures gathered by no fewer than five anti-Thatcher petitions of one sort or another currently live on the campaign site 38 Degrees. They include 41,000 for one that calls for the shelving of “government plans” to build a museum to remember her. That the museum will apparently draw its funding entirely from private donors appears to be of little deterrence. A similar petition last year gathered more than 80,000 – the bulk of which appeared to have been inspired by a Twitter hashtag – before it was closed. |
| Such campaigns aside, those who disagree with the contention that she has become a less divisive figure include Antony Seldon, the University of Buckingham’s vice-chancellor and a biographer of three other prime ministers, who cites the reaction to her death “from communities who had their heart ripped out by her policies, whether necessary or not”. | Such campaigns aside, those who disagree with the contention that she has become a less divisive figure include Antony Seldon, the University of Buckingham’s vice-chancellor and a biographer of three other prime ministers, who cites the reaction to her death “from communities who had their heart ripped out by her policies, whether necessary or not”. |
| “The interesting thing about her is how totemic a figure she is, with either a toxic or deity status, depending on who you are,” adds Seldon, who believes that plans to memorialise her at the university would be a “huge attraction”. | “The interesting thing about her is how totemic a figure she is, with either a toxic or deity status, depending on who you are,” adds Seldon, who believes that plans to memorialise her at the university would be a “huge attraction”. |
| “I think they are just trying to find the money. But I do think there will be a Thatcher museum, because she was around for 11 years, which is historic, won three election victories, changed the face of the country and had an ‘ism’ named after her, which is very unusual, for better or for worse, and also she was there at the time of the end of the cold war. So, she wasn’t your average prime minister.” | “I think they are just trying to find the money. But I do think there will be a Thatcher museum, because she was around for 11 years, which is historic, won three election victories, changed the face of the country and had an ‘ism’ named after her, which is very unusual, for better or for worse, and also she was there at the time of the end of the cold war. So, she wasn’t your average prime minister.” |